The US Geological Survey reported that a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Eureka region of Northern California early on Tuesday. At least two people were reported dead, and there were reports of damage to roads and homes. The earthquake also jolted residents from their sleep and left tens of thousands without electricity.
A city of about 12,000 people in Humboldt County, California’s forested Redwood Coast, Fortuna, is about 15 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake, which struck at 2:34 a.m. Pacific Time. Fortuna is around 280 miles northwest of Sacramento and is close to Eureka.
According to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, at least two persons died “as a result of medical emergencies” during and after the earthquake. There were twelve injuries reported.
Despite the lack of information at this time, none of the injuries are thought to be life-threatening, according to William F. Honsal, sheriff of Humboldt County. He continued, “We expect the number of injuries to rise.”
A 72-year-old and an 83-year-old suffered medical issues at some point during the earthquake, but rescue personnel were unable to get to them in time, according to Honsal.
According to a press statement from the governor’s office, Humboldt County can now access resources under the California Disaster Assistance Act as a result of the state of emergency announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“Jennifer and I send our heartfelt condolences to the families grieving the loss of loved ones and offer our best wishes for the recovery of those who were injured in this earthquake,” Newsom said in a statement.
Following that, the area was hit by more than thirty minor quakes, some of which had a magnitude of as high as 4.6, according to the study. A 6.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred on December 20, 2021, right off Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County and caused only minimal damage to local structures precedes the tremor that occurred on Tuesday.
Early on Tuesday, the majority of homes and businesses in Humboldt County lacked electricity. According to utility tracker PowerOutage.us, out of the 99,000 customers tracked in the county, nearly 70,000 outages had been reported as of around 1 p.m. PT.
City manager Kyle Knopp in Rio Dell, one of the earthquake-affected cities, reported that water and power are still out and the county is on a boil notice.
According to the county sheriff’s office, “widespread damages to roads and homes” have been recorded throughout Humboldt County on Tuesday morning. According to the sheriff’s office, there were at least two injuries. In Eureka, Wendy Pickett Monolias awoke to the trembling.
“Once the shaking finally stopped, we got our flashlights and phones and looked around. Everything was in shambles,” Pickett Monolias said. “Things you wouldn’t expect to have fallen over or broken did. An entire cabinet in the bathroom fell over and broke apart.”
According to CNN station KRCR, the temblor destroyed a portion of the Fernbridge, which spans State Route 211 over the Eel River, northeast of Ferndale.
According to a tweet from the California Department of Transportation, section of the road at the bridge had fractured.
“The bridge is closed while we conduct safety inspections due to possible seismic damage,” the tweet reads.
On a soggy Tuesday morning, boards were being put up to repair the holes left by broken storefront windows in downtown Fortuna, as shown in footage from KRCR.
Caroline Titus’ home in the Ferndale neighborhood was damaged by the earthquake, as seen in a video she shared on Twitter. It was a major one. Now there is no power. The home is a complete disaster, Titus wrote.
According to the public reports gathered by the survey, the major earthquake caused at least some shaking from coastal Oregon to south of San Jose, California.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stated that it does not present a tsunami threat.
